


Endnotes for SPECIAL

by glassonion_archivist



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-15
Updated: 2005-01-15
Packaged: 2019-06-19 09:48:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15507501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassonion_archivist/pseuds/glassonion_archivist
Summary: Endnotes for the serial novel SPECIAL.





	Endnotes for SPECIAL

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Glass Onion](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Glass_Onion), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Glass Onion’s collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/glassonion/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** This entire series is ADULT.

  
Author's notes: This entire series is ADULT.  


* * *

Endnotes for SPECIAL

 

 

## Endnotes for SPECIAL

### by Minisinoo

Categorizing this novel is a bit tough for me, but of all the stories I've written, I think this one is closet to my heart -- not because I've lived through anything like what Scott survived, but because it allowed me to explore some things I've wanted to explore, and meet some challenges. It's a dark story, but it's not a tragedy by any means -- quite the opposite. Some might want to characterize it as 'hurt-comfort,' yet in my experience, hurt-comfort is typically romance where trama of some sort becomes the means to bring two characters together. Sometimes it's well-used, sometimes it's very poorly used, but _Special_ isn't a romance. It's a coming-of-age story about fathers and sons, a story of healing. Scott's trauma isn't a means to anything; it IS the story. And while yes, Jean's in it, and yes, Scott and Jean do wind up together, that's just part of the larger healing process, and Jean takes a backseat in this tale to _Charles Xavier_ \-- who's the real secondary protagonist. _Special_ is far more a story about Scott and Xavier than Scott and Jean. But most of all, it's a story about Scott. 

The Scott of _Special_ emerged of a piece. Sometimes there' <sup>TM</sup>s not a clear linear direction for how you reach a characterization. In retrospect, it was a collection of observations that suddenly GELLED. In the film, Marsden played Cyclops with a certain . . . cockiness, an edge of 'flip' that I'm not sure even he realizes. I once had the chance to ask him how he saw Cyclops, what his perceptions of the character were (go HERE <[http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20030502004/tscript.htm>](http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20030502004/tscript.htm>);, first question), and from his answer, it seemed clear that he thinks of Cyke as the boy-scout who toes the line, so I suspect that cockiness is more _Marsden_ leaking through than an intentional choice. Nonetheless, it' <sup>TM</sup>s one of the more interesting aspects of the film character, contributing complexity to what would otherwise be an unbearably 2D tertiary character. Add to that the way Scott dressed in the film -- a choice of the wardrobe department, I realize, but in the 'reality' of the film world, it was curious. He was _always_ covered up, even when other characters weren't and one might have expected him to be _hot_ in all those clothes. It was as if he didn't want to show his body, and the choice of staid clothing style was notable, as well (and in X2, it's even _worse_ ). The way he moved combined ease and discomfort, as if he weren't entirely sure of his body. He switched back and forth between a fluidity that was almost _sauntering_ , then a brittleness that seemed doll-like. Again, I think this is more of Marsden the person leaking into a character with which he's not yet entirely comfortable, but as a writer, I could USE that -- and did. The whole package is of someone who wants to appear to be something he isn't . . . his movements and demeanor don't _quite_ match up. In _Accidental_ I took that in one direction, as the popular boy who grew into someone else. But in _Special_ , I used his comic background to create something quite different. 

Scott's personality in the comics has all the hallmarks of an abused child, and I wanted to explore that. Simplifying hugely, there are two basic ways for such kids to develop. One is to believe they really are 'bad' and become the 'problem' child. But the other is to try to prove they're NOT bad by struggling to become 'good enough.' There's a constant need to please, measure up, shoulder responsibility, tow the line . . . sound familiar? And under it all, a sense of insecurity. I've always been struck by the dual nature of Scott's personality. There's Cyclops, and then there's Scott Summers, and they're rather different people. Cyclops is a natural leader, but _Scott_ is very insecure. In the comics, Scott's origin has varied from no time on the street to being used by Jack Winters (Jack O'Diamonds) for cons and theft. [Like many of the older comic characters, after 40 years and multiple writers, the canon is sometimes mutually contradictory.] None of it was as dark as what I gave him, but the comics did have to abide by the comic code. The closest background to _Special_ was a mini released in the late '90s called "Children of the Atom," but even that could only skirt reality, and it wasn't a particularly good series anyway. Yet there is this recurring theme that Scott's foster years weren't a pretty picture, and combined with his comics personality, I thought it all pointed to some real trauma. 

For Scott's situation in _Special_ , I wanted to blend his time since the plane accident with a basically healthy childhood from before. So while he may be deeply wounded, the core of his personality, formed in his earliest years, is stable. This is important, because it means he _did_ learn both trust and self-sufficiency at the right points in his developmental process. If those had been interrupted, then his healing process would have become _much_ more complex. I wanted to give him something inside to reach for. For a more lengthy discussion of the use (and abuse) of trauma in fiction, go HERE  <[http://www.livejournal.com/users/minisinoo/170051.html>](http://www.livejournal.com/users/minisinoo/170051.html>);. 

So that's my basic thought process for the Scott of _Special_. In addition to the themes of hope and recovery and rebirth, I'm also playing with themes of 'actual' and 'apparent,' the self one is versus the self others expect, and the tension between individual personality and social class. None of the characters in _Special_ are quite what one would expect, even while they're shaped by their environments. 

*Special: the Genesis of Cyclops* provides the background-origin used for the characters in my post-X2 novel, _Grail_ (just as _An Accidental Interception of Fate_ provided it for _Climb the Wind_ and _Heyoka_. So if you liked _Special_ and want to know 'what happened next' (more or less), then I'd direct you to that novel (currently in process). For the curious, were _Special_ to be rendered into print, it would yield a novel of roughly 400 pages. 

Acknowledgments: 

A number of folks have helped me out during the writing of _Special_ , each acknowledged in the individual notes for each story. But here at the end, as always, I'd like to thank Naomi for her patience at editing. I'd also like to thank Heatherly Hodges, who read and commented on probably 2/3rds of these entries before they ever saw the light of day. Although I do, myself, have a clinical background, and although I'd read plenty of books on healing from sexual abuse (both before this and in preparaing for writing this), my own area of clinical training and experience is in bereavement counselling. Yet every area of counselling develops its own unique quirks, insights, rhythms and recognitions, so I turned to Heatherly for additional advice and critique, since her area of study and clinical experience is _in_ the field of sexual abuse therapy. These stories would have been far less without her generous assistance (including several emails and even a few telephone conversations). 

Fandom:  X-Men   
Title:   **Endnotes for SPECIAL**   
Series Name:   **SPECIAL: the Genesis of Cyclops**   
Author:   **Minisinoo**   [email]   [[website]](http://www.themedicinewheel.com/)   
Details:   **Series**  |  **6k**  |  **01/15/05**   
Characters:  Scott   
Summary:  Endnotes for the serial novel SPECIAL.   
Notes:  This entire series is ADULT.   
  



End file.
